Chairman’s Report - November 9, 2018

THE ELECTION IS OVER

As this Chairman’s Report is written all of the election results are not final, but it is clear that the Democrats will be in the majority in the House and the Republicans will be in the majority in the Senate. 
 
It is unclear who will be the new Speaker of the House, but Representative Pelosi seems to be in the lead.  The leadership in the Senate is almost certainly not going to change.
 
One thing that unfortunately will not change is that the Swamp and its allies in Congress will continue to take steps that benefit them and their clients.  In effect, more of the same.
 
While the FAIRtax sponsor in the House, Rob Woodall, is leading in his bid to be re-elected but it is a very close race and there may be a recount needed.  Jerry Moran, the FAIRtax sponsor in the Senate, was not up for re-election, the problem remains that the Swamp has stymied their efforts to move the FAIRtax legislation forward. 
 
The problem is that the Swamp sees, correctly so, the FAIRtax as a direct threat to much of their income and influence.  If there is no complex income tax code to manipulate, much of the income to lobbyists will disappear.  Many of the Congressional staffers and former members who have eagerly participated in making the income tax code even more difficult to understand will no longer be able to command huge salaries lobbying on behalf of the income tax code.
 
Many of the commentators at think tanks, both liberal and conservative, will have to find other things to issue learned statements about or find another job. 
 
In short, the only people that want the FAIRtax are the people who live outside of the D.C. area. 
 
OPPORTUNITY

This is a somewhat novel point of view, but the fact that President Trump was stymied in many of his attempts to do things by a Swamp-influenced Republican Congress meant that he had to “go along to get along.”  Although he came to D.C. thinking that all he had to do was point out to his own party that there were things that obviously needed to be done and everyone would agree, instead, the Republican leadership let the President know that he could only do what they allowed.  This led to a tax plan that was far from what the President wanted.
 
Now that the Democrats have control over the House, he will not have to bite his tongue while being lectured by the old House leadership.  This is an opportunity for the President to demand real tax reform and embarrass the Democrat majority in the House—who are still part of the Swamp, just a different part than the prior Republican leadership.
 
The President can ask the Democrats why we keep an income/payroll tax system that:
 

• Retains funding for Social Security through the payroll tax deduction—the most regressive federal tax;
• Requires complicated returns to the IRS;
• Is widely evaded and the ones most likely to pay more to compensate for this loss are people on W-2’s-- the greatest majority of the Democrat base;
• Retains the corporate income tax which unfairly benefits imports and penalizes U.S. exports;
• Costs over $500 billion a year for people trying to comply;
• Subsidizes the wealthy with the mortgage deduction and increases the home prices of everyone else;
• Subsidizes the wealthy who make donations to charities but makes everyone else pay with dollars reduced by income and payroll taxes. 

They will try to use the old arguments about “fairness” but these don’t really address the problem.  What could be fair about punishing people who earn less?


CONCLUSION

The writer P.J. Rourke said, “We will win an election when all the seats in the House and Senate and the chair behind the desk in the Oval Office and the whole bench of the Supreme Court are filled with people who wish they weren't there.”
 
Unfortunately, most of the Members of the House and Senate love the power and are willing to sell out the rest of us to retain power. 
 
Republicans now know that their re-election may very well be linked to the President if he elects to run in 2020 and it looks like he will.  They will be much more amenable to working with him now.
 
Finally, the Democrats desperately want to win the White House and take over the Senate.  They know that failing to accomplish anything except “investigate” Trump will not accomplish their goals.
 
The President knows all about the FAIRtax.  When he was running he asked people, “What have you got to lose?
 
Mr. President, what have you got to lose if you propose the FAIRtax?  It will dramatically increase the growth of the economy and not require the deficits that continue to destroy our future. 

WHAT CAN EACH OF US DO


Call up the local or D.C. offices of your House Member and two Senators and you can use the following script:

• I am sure that Representative ____ or Senator ____ is in favor of everyone obeying the income tax laws.
• After they assure you that their boss is not in favor of anyone breaking the law, ask if they are aware of the Cebula study showing $9 trillion of evaded income/payroll taxes over the next ten years.
• Since most will say they don’t believe their boss has seen the study, either drop off a copy or get an email address and send a copy to them for their boss.
• Say you are going to call back in a week and ask what the Representative or Senator is going to do to stop this evasion.
• In a week, call back and ask specifically what the Representative or Senator is going to do to enforce the law.
• They probably will say their boss believes that simplifying the income tax will handle the problem.
• Explain that when people evade income taxes, they are also evading the 15.3% payroll/Medicare tax and state income tax.  So it is unlikely that they are going to pay 30% or 40% when they were paying 0% because they have already decided it is okay to cheat.
• Say that the only way to reduce evasion is to increase by tens or hundreds of thousands the number of comprehensive IRS audits done each year.
• Point out that Evaders do not self-identify by putting an “E” on their income tax return.
• 80% of the people likely to be audited are trying to comply, but they will be forced to endure these IRS audits as well.
• Ask if the Member is in favor of this?
• If they say no, then ask again how the Member proposes to stop people breaking the income tax laws.
• Then explain that the way to handle evasion without unleashing the IRS audits is the FAIRtax.

If you can see your Member or attend a town hall and ask these questions, you can be even more effective. 
 

FAIRtax POWER RADIO

#133 FAIRTAX AND THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS

How did the FAIRtax effect the midterm elections?  How many FAIRtax cosponsors were reelected?  How will the change in the House leadership affect our efforts to get the FAIRtax enacted into law. 
 
There are many questions to consider now that the midterms are history.  To help us answer these questions, Randy Fischer, a board member with Americans For Fair Taxation, joins The FAIRtax Guys via phone call to suggest some answers. 
 
As always, there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to dealing with Congress.  But one thing is certain - FAIRtax supporters around the country are undaunted in their efforts to rid our country of the income tax and replace it with the FAIRtax.   
 
Please get engaged and help others learn about the value of the FAIRtax by turning them onto FAIRtax Power Radio - the ONLY weekly FAIRtax digital TV show in the country!  Watch every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET).  We are streaming to Facebook LIVE (www.facebook.com/fairtax).  If you’re not a fan of Facebook, you can watch FAIRtax Power Radio on xcluded.tv at the same broadcast time - or any time.  

FTPR podcasts for each show are posted on Spreaker (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes & iHeart Radio every Friday morning.  A free FAIRtax Power Radio app is available for iOS and Android.  Since it’s a podcast, you can download it and play it whenever it’s convenient for you.

The Facebook videos are saved to a number of pages:
FAIRtax Official (https://www.facebook.com/FairTax/) 
The FAIRtax Guys (https://www.facebook.com/thefairtaxguys/) 
Democrats for FAIRtax (https://www.facebook.com/DemocratsForFairTax/)
and many others. 

Xcluded.tv is a subscription based site which costs $30 per year and features a number of other shows along with FTPR with no commercial interruption. 

Please help us educate as many Americans about the FAIRtax as possible.  Be sure to tell everyone you know about this great new format for FAIRtax Power Radio.  Whether you watch the weekly video or listen to the weekly podcast, this is a great way for more Americans to learn about the best tax reform plan in Congress at this time.

Tune into our video broadcast each Wednesday.  Or, if you prefer, you can listen to the podcast of the show later.  You can listen to FTPR on any platform - Mac or PC, iPhone or Android. And it’s 100% free.  Listen on Spreaker.com (http://bit.ly/2oesbk7), iTunes (http://apple.co/1Te8VdF) or iHeart Radio (http://bit.ly/2eqEG7y) on your computer or smartphone.  The easiest way to listen to FTPR on your smartphone is by downloading the free FTPR app.  Just search for “FAIRtax Power Radio” in your app store, download the app and start listening.  

Remember, FTPR digital TV every Wednesday at 11:30 AM (ET) followed by the podcast on Friday morning.  Please listen and tell everyone you know about the FAIRtax Power Radio.  The FAIRtax: Once You Understand It, You’ll Demand It!

AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION - THE FAIRTAX PRIMER

America’s Big Solution is a basic introduction to the FAIRtax and is meant for people of any age.  And you can download it to your tablet or smartphone right now.  It’s also available in print form.  See below.
 
Do you know someone who would like an introduction to the FAIRtax and would prefer to read about it in a booklet rather than search online for Tweets, Posts and Shares?  If so, America’s Big Solution is their best choice.
 
America’s Big Solution is an introduction to the FAIRtax written by Terry Tibbetts, author of A Spartan Game: The Life and Loss of Don Holleder, with help from Ron Maiellaro, President of the Florida FAIRtax Educational Association.  

You can buy an electronic version of ABS as follows:  AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION is available for only $2.99 for the Amazon Kindle (http://amzn.to/1WIRHry), the Barnes & Noble Nook (http://bit.ly/1XeG8bH) and Apple iOS (http://apple.co/1tnqK0P).  

You can purchase a print copy at the same Amazon link above for $9.25.  Regardless of whether you choose the electronic format or the print format, you’ll find AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION will give someone the boost they need to begin their study of the FAIRtax and the suggested resources to learn more. Buy AMERICA’S BIG SOLUTION now!

LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION

These links will help you promote and support the FAIRtax, make yourself familiar with the links below. We always do our best to keep our AFFT community up to date, and you can stay ahead of the curve using these convenient sites.

• The website of Americans for Fair Taxation (www.fairtax.org)
• Read the Summary of the Evasion Study. 
• Welcome to the Online FAIRtax Community  (member.fairtax.org) 
• The website at which you can help make it happen. (www.bigsolution.org)
• The Facebook page for Americans for Fair Taxation 
• The Facebook page for The FAIRtax Guys 
• The Twitter page for Americans for Fair Taxation 
• PopVox - Connecting people and lawmakers for more effective participation and better governing 
• YouTube channel for AFFT 
• YouTube channel for The FAIRtax Guys
• The Official FAIRtax Logo Store (www.fairtaxlogostore.org)
• Xcluded.tv - A new platform for FAIRtax Power Radio Video and other shows.

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